well, i didnt need to be as cunning as i thought - england kicked off with france and the two were so busy trading insults and territories they didnt notice me sneak in the back and steal Antwerp - thats 2 of the 3 missions done to create the Netherlands.
Gelre and East Fresia are all that remain, however East Fresia has a truce with me after losing in the battle of independance and they are safe for 2 more years.
In the meantime i increase relations with Austria, the leader of the HRE, enough to pop out a royal marriage and hopefully sire a decent heir - my current leader is sod all use at diplo, and ok at admin and war, his heir William IVth is even worse, and if memory serves he becomes the ruler of England IRL, i have no idea how. Relations are also increased with Castille and England, im not at their big boy status but alliances with single, 2, 3 province nations are below the mighty Dutch right now.
Im improving all territories now and developing the land and the trade markets we operate in, the army has increased to 13k and the navy 22k - just under max levels. While doing this we eventually trigger Admin level 5 and choose national ideas - its time for exploration, im not heading west, im going east - lets fire up the Dutch East India Company and start rolling in guilders
Im concerned Gelre is going to join the massive anti-Dutch coalition so we declare on them before they can and unwittingly unleash holy hell on northern europe - i have called in the Danes to help me, seeing as their closer to the allies that Gelre have chosen - Bern, Dortmund, Munster, Brandenburg and East Fresia again and a few others, Denmark isnt f**king around, they bring Norway and Sweden - theres a few months of to-ing and fro-ing as the Dutch Army and the Dutch Free Company of mercenaries tussle with Gelre and her friends and then the Vikings turn up mob handed and paint the place red - after about a year of sieging and drinking its all over, Gelre is ours, we hammer war reparations out of all the co-defendants and peace out - goddam East Fresia gets another 5 year safety net before i can get them
On a cold October morning, the horizon still orange and pink from the burn of the sunrise, seagulls squawk and chatter as they argue over the scraps of the last few fishing boats returning home from the previous evenings catch. Were one to squint its eyes and look east across the busy harbour of Amsterdam it would see there 3 freshly laid galleys, the work of the Den Leyden shipyard for the last 6 months. Sat low in the tide, filled with supplies and fresh water the crew and the ships await their Captain - the first of his kind to grace the new expanding country - an explorer!
